INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Jalen Rose made sure the Chicago Bulls
remained winless on the road.

Rose scored 38 points, his most since opening night, as the
Indiana Pacers defeated the Bulls, 97-90.

"I just wanted to go out and play the game the way it should be
played," Rose said. "My team members were definitely behind me
and have always been behind me. We worked hard, we shot around
the zone and it was a tremendous lift by the emotions that the
crowd showed."

Amid rumored disagreements with Indiana coach Isiah Thomas over
playing time, Rose had shot 8-of-32 for just 18 points in his
previous three contests. But Rose responded with 13-of-21
shooting in 42 minutes in this one.

"Sometimes when there are people taking shots at you, wondering
about your scenario and where your head is, you just go back to
basics," Rose said. "I've done a lot of soul-searching. I just
want more chances."

Rose scored a career-high 43 points in an overtime loss to New
Jersey on October 30.

"I thought Jalen shot the ball well," Thomas said. "He stayed
after practice yesterday, worked on his shooting, came out
tonight and shot the ball well. I'm pleased with the way he shot
the ball but I think it's a result of him working hard
yesterday. He has a good work ethic but sometimes players forget
how they got here. You've got to work at your game."

Chicago, the league's only winless team on the road, fell to
0-18 away from the United Center and lost its sixth straight
game overall.

Al Harrington added 16 points for the Pacers, who beat the Bulls
for the eighth straight time and eighth in a row at home. They
have won 14 of its last 15 meetings with Chicago, which tried a
zone defense, to no avail.

"We made short cuts, blocked, and against a zone someone is
always going to be open," Harrington said. "We had to look for
that person. A few times tonight it was me, and I was able to
knock it down."

"We spent some time working on how to break a zone in practice,"
Pacers forward Jeff Foster said. "I think it showed tonight. We
kept the floor spread and took the open shots and crashed the
boards when we had to."

The Pacers led, 74-65, entering the fourth quarter, and did not
not allow the Bulls to get closer than 78-73 on a bucket by
Marcus Fizer with 9:24 left.

Rose countered with a 3-pointer with 8:38 to go to start a 15-6
run that ended with a pair of free throws by Reggie Miller that
gave the Pacers their biggest lead, 93-79, with 3:38 left.

Mercer led Chicago with 22 points but shot just 10-of-26. Fizer
added 15 points for the Bulls, who fell to 0-3 against the
Pacers this season.

"That's how it's been recently in the last couple of games we've
had," Mercer said. "In this situation we need to look at the
positives that happened. We hung around late in the game, but
hte main thing for us tonight was not making free throws. If we
can get that corrected, we're right there."

"The real difference in this game tonight was our free-throw
shooting," said Bulls coach Bill Cartwright, who fell to 2-6.

Chicago made just 14-of-22 free throws while Indiana converted
25-of-27. Rose was a perfect 9-of-9 from the line and has hit
43 of his last 44.

Indiana closed the second quarter with a 10-1 run, taking a
50-40 lead into halftime. Rose was 6-of-7 for 17 points through
two periods.

Cartwright sent forward Ron Artest into the locker room just
before the end of the game after an argument with a heckler.

"Nothing happened," Artest said. "The guy was behind the bench,
he was cursing and saying negative things. I just went back to
get some water and my teammates thought I was going over to
strangle him, but I wasn't -- I was just going to get some
water. Next thing I know, it seemed like I had a thousand hands
grab me and I'm the one falling over."

"Ron's a fierce competitor and he wants to win," Cartwright
said. "I can't fault him for that, but he obviously has to learn
to keep control. He's been our best player the last month."